In what is arguably an absolute shocker of events in the movie world, it appears that Solo: A Star Wars Story will be Disney’s first “bomb” at the box office.
It was projected that Solo would bring in between $130-150M opening weekend, but was barely able to break $103M. This is far below Disney’s previous two Star Wars films, as Rogue One brought in $155M and Star Wars: The Last Jedi managed $220M.
In my article talking about Solo‘s weak opening in China I had raised some concerning questions about the future of Disney’s Star Wars franchise. One being if the movie would be Disney’s first bomb. And at the time I kind of blew it off, because who really thinks that Star Wars (especially for the powerhouse that is Disney) could actually bomb? Well, now we’re seeing that my concerns and question was an extremely valid one.
Combining the box office failing of Solo with previous upticks in anger by fans (about the franchise); such as that a portion of the fan base was upset over Star Wars: The Force Awakens being a “rehash of A New Hope” to the split over The Last Jedi — you have to wonder if we’re seeing a sign of Star Wars fatigue.
Over saturation will always play into any genre the industry is steadily putting out movie after movie with. And as Star Wars: Episode XI is approaching (December 2019), it makes the question of whether or not fatigue is setting in that much more interesting.